‘The Girl with No Face’ will be included alongside a collection of Gray’s works titled “The Space Between Then and Now” in May of this year. In Vol 51. No. 1 of Aura, Gray’s piece “A Song from Tehran” was published. Additional upcoming publications of Gray’s work include “The Writer in Residence” (March 2026) and “Emperor of the Mundane” (2027).
The Girl with No Face by Michael Gray takes the theme of consumption into uncomfortable but all too common territory, producing a short story that intrigued me on first read, and became all the more engaging as I put more critical thought into the text. It explores the rampant sexualization thrust upon our youth, primarily from the point of view of a young man cajoled into escapades by his rowdy peers and ‘peer’ mentor Moretti.
‘Peer,’ I write, as Moretti not only takes his spot as the leader of the group very seriously, but questions as to his true age and intentions are constantly posed. Descriptions of Moretti, from his gruff appearance to his chummy relationship with the madam on Cherry Street, created an untrustworthy picture of Moretti, and thus, the whole trip.
My uneasy impression of the trip was reflected in the protagonist, whose inner monologue expresses the sense of discomfort I felt from the hyper-sexualization of even the most minute details. The phrase ‘bang for your buck’ gains a slimier context when Moretti says it; the protagonist’s dislike of referring to the working women as whores is brushed off; Moretti can’t even send a freshman, who might’ve only recently become of age, out in the freezing cold without making mention of his privates. Moretti’s snapping at the boy who joins in on the bullying puts this sexualization into context. These young men can be irreverent, sexual and cruel, but only in ways the big man deems acceptable.
Little glimmers of hope shined through via Tommy Turney, one of the few boys on the adventure who offers slight resistance to Moretti. From disputing his origins, to posing ideas of his own. But he, as most boys in his situation would, I imagine, falls in line when it matters, representing the unavoidable grip patriarchal standards have on even the better of the boys.
Moretti, this bully, this patriarchal force of sex was at his most interesting through his interactions with the madam. While the protagonist is disturbed by Moretti’s obscene jokes, the madam laughs. Moretti even has a formal business arrangement with the madam, gaining free access to the women for bringing in young men. This acceptance of Moretti’s behavior from one of the two defined female characters really opened the wider implications of the scenario to me. It’s what inspired further re-reads from me, and I am sure what will turn the gears in your head once you read it yourself.
Overall, Michael Loyd Gray takes the theme of consumption and expertly uses it to explore a form of commerce that has affected men and women for centuries, showing both the hypersexual attitude pushed onto young men as they grow up and the disposability and objectification forced onto young women to maintain that attitude. At the end of the story, the young women are silent and weary, the young men are loud and celebratory, with only the protagonist and the reader left to wonder about the consequences of the scenario both Moretti and the madam seem so eager to facilitate. I humbly recommend you read his work (and the work of others) in Vol. 51 No.1 of our magazine, as well as read his future work.
